Mozambique a Buyer’s Market

13 May Mozambique a Buyer’s Market

The second annual bilingual MozamReal Property Forum taking place on 5 June will aid investment decision making in the country’s re-emerging property market says its host Kfir Rusin.

“Over the past 12 months market sentiment has improved significantly. This year, we will explore how companies can position themselves in what is expected to become one of Africa´s real estate stand out markets over the next five years.”

As the managing director of African Property Investments (API) Events, the continent’s leading producer of business to business real estate focused networking conferences; MozamReal will highlight the improving investment case to local, regional and international investors.

Rusin’s bullish view is shared by Manuel Vieira, chairman of Meridian32, a leading independent real estate service provider in Mozambique.

“Absolutely! If you have affordable capital available to make a play with a view on a five to seven-year exit strategy, Mozambique is the place to be and the moment is now.”

As he explains, “The recent uptick in market inquiries is being driven by the expectation of the imminent announcement of the ‘Final Investment Decisions’ by both ExxonMobil and Anadarko.”

Building off MozamReal’s successful debut in 2018, this year’s edition is attracting significant attention from local and regional investors and developers and is building to be one of the pan African company’s top performing events for 2019 says Rusin.

“Last year, the market was tough for many, but the number of local and international brands partnering with us is evidence of a rapidly improving sentiment driven by the LNG projects and investment in the market by major funds and banks.”

As Manuel Vieira confirms, “Expectations are that soon after the announcement, economic activity will enter into a steep growth curve.”

And while investors and developers circle and position themselves for upward growth, the market remains attractively priced for investors comments Manuel Vieira.

“It’s a buyers’ market! Prices continue subdued across all segments.” Despite his optimism, Manuel Vieira does caution prudence and understanding of the fundamentals in the local market.

“Timing is going to be everything. Once the Final Investment Decisions are announced, we expect a 20% to 30% price hike across all segments. And we expect that curve, over a slightly longer period, to surpass the 100% increase in the residential housing market.”

Adding that, “Initially, we expect the boost to come in the office and residential segments. Retail will lag behind 24 months until private consumption and disposable income levels rise again. Logistics will see significant investment but will be mostly localized away from the southern provinces as these will be erected adjoining the mineral and gas projects.

Nacala, Pemba and Palma will be additional hot investment areas driven by the extractive industries operations and the logistics services localized at these Ports.”

While these locations offer longer term horizons, Manuel Vieira predicts that Maputo is the most attractive destination. “Maputo City, due to its nature as the capital, will always be the largest recipient of real estate investment dollars.”

As the investment case rapidly builds in Mozambique across sectors and geographies, Rusin expects that this year’s forum will again see new deals struck and announced at what has become the definitive and bilingual industry event for real estate investors in Mozambique.

“We are receiving a lot of interest from the international investment community and we believe that we will see a significant amount of deal making at MozamReal between international and local companies.”

A sentiment which Manuel Vieira shares. “The benefits of MozamReal are many. From sharing of experiences giving us the ability to benchmark what we do in Mozambique in the real estate sphere to creating opportunities for partnerships between local and foreign investors and professionals to revisiting old acquaintances.”